I would second "Them" and add "Damnation Alley" the old classic with George Peppard and Jan Michael Vincent.

Sun Mar 01, 2009 7:10 pm

ed_metal_head

Re: Science Fiction Double feature

Does it need to be a 1950's Sci-fi? If so, I'd suggest "It Came from Outer Space" (1953) and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956).

If the decade is optional, I'm sure they'd enjoy some Spielberg. How about a "E.T"/"Close Encounters" double feature?

If you want to stick to classic films you could also try some of the classic Universal Horror Monsters. Quite a few have sci-fi elements. I'm sure a "Frankenstein"/"Bride of Frankenstein" would go down well. Also "Dracula", "The Invisible Man" (methinks kids would love this), "The Wolf Man" (especially since a remake is coming soon) and "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" should all be fun.

Sun Mar 01, 2009 8:22 pm

Robert Holloway

Re: Science Fiction Double feature

ed_metal_head wrote:

Does it need to be a 1950's Sci-fi? If so, I'd suggest "It Came from Outer Space" (1953) and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956).

If the decade is optional, I'm sure they'd enjoy some Spielberg. How about a "E.T"/"Close Encounters" double feature?

If you want to stick to classic films you could also try some of the classic Universal Horror Monsters. Quite a few have sci-fi elements. I'm sure a "Frankenstein"/"Bride of Frankenstein" would go down well. Also "Dracula", "The Invisible Man" (methinks kids would love this), "The Wolf Man" (especially since a remake is coming soon) and "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" should all be fun.

Hi Ed MH

My kids respond to films very differently. My ten year old is unusually 'cool' aware and hates kids films. Whereas my 12 year old is very conventional.

We've done ET (which the younger one hated) and Close Encounters which they loved. Contact was a surprising hit as well particularly with the ten year old?

I think IOTBS would freak them out and I don't want to do that - yet ICFOS is also a good thought.Invisible man is a greta idea though.I'm also considering a Harryhausen restrospective as i have many on DVD.

ThanksRob

Sun Mar 01, 2009 10:16 pm

Robert Holloway

Re: Science Fiction Double feature

baz1701 wrote:

Ho about Barbarella?? Bit of Jane Fonda with not much on... hehe

Slap to you. i have enough issues with booby discussion already!Rob

Sun Mar 01, 2009 10:17 pm

Robert Holloway

Re: Science Fiction Double feature

Trevor wrote:

Patrick wrote:

But Logans Run is awesome, there's an orgy, a robot and boobs! That's the hallmark of a good movie for any age

No argument there -- it's got it all.

OK, I'll try Logan's Run errrm Dad is a big fan of Jenny Agutter as well Walkabout was critical viewing for this then teenager!Rob

Sun Mar 01, 2009 10:20 pm

Ken

Re: Science Fiction Double feature

Robert Holloway wrote:

We've done ET (which the younger one hated) and Close Encounters which they loved. Contact was a surprising hit as well particularly with the ten year old?

Contact is a terrific movie. I wouldn't peg it for a family movie since it's kind of talky and doesn't have a lot of action (not to mention the ambiguous ending), but I suppose those are obstacles that can be overcome.

Mon Mar 02, 2009 12:01 am

Patrick

Re: Science Fiction Double feature

Ken wrote:

Robert Holloway wrote:

We've done ET (which the younger one hated) and Close Encounters which they loved. Contact was a surprising hit as well particularly with the ten year old?

Contact is a terrific movie. I wouldn't peg it for a family movie since it's kind of talky and doesn't have a lot of action (not to mention the ambiguous ending), but I suppose those are obstacles that can be overcome.

Contact's ending wasn't ambiguous. It was pretty clear what happened even if it does appear ambiguous at first.

Mon Mar 02, 2009 12:04 am

Ken

Re: Science Fiction Double feature

Patrick wrote:

Contact's ending wasn't ambiguous. It was pretty clear what happened even if it does appear ambiguous at first.

Contact's ending is ambiguous in the sense that it's a Rorschach test for the kind of believer you are. If you're a credulous believer, then

Jodie Foster's character did travel through a wormhole, and did meet with an alien who appeared to her as her father on the day of his death. As a scientist, she is unlikely to make a mistake in such matters. The static on her headset, which goes on for just as long as she claims to have been away, is too convenient to ignore.

an elaborate hoax, being far more probable than a genuine message from an extraterrestrial civilization, has probably taken place. The experience that Jodie Foster's character reports may very well have been a hallucination influenced by wishful thinking. The fact that the duration of the static matches her testimony is explicable by the notorious unreliability of eyewitness accounts (and, specifically, through cognitive errors such as hindsight bias) or just plain ol' coincidence.

It is still possible that the experience was genuine, but it's not very likely.

But that's all beside the point. What's important is the effect that it has on her as a person, and that's the real brilliance of Contact. That's what the movie is really about.

Mon Mar 02, 2009 1:00 am

Robert Holloway

Re: Science Fiction Double feature

Some background - I've seen this 5/6 times and rate it at 3.5 stars or 9/10

Watching Contact alone with my 10 year old son in HD on a 120" screen was a calculated risk.

He loved it and followed up with endless questions.

Certainly one of the best experiences in our science fiction series

The Incredible Shrinking Man and The Creature From The Black lagoon is next weekend!

Rob

Mon Mar 02, 2009 3:10 am

Unke

Re: Science Fiction Double feature

Robert Holloway wrote:

I'd love to get them to watch Incredible Shrinking Man but it's never been releasedso i need to find another 50's classic for them next weekend

Hi Rob,The Incredible Shrinking Man - one of my favourite movies - has been released as a region 2 DVD in 2006. If your equipment allows you to play region2 DVDs, you could buy it from Amazon UK. There are no special features as such, unless you count the Russian dubbed version (one person dubbing all voices over the original version!).

I'm not sure whether Silent Running is suitable for 10-year-olds (the Joan Baez soundtrack might cause tinnitus for one), but any child will surely love the three cuddly robots.

Mon Mar 02, 2009 4:49 am

Sören Höglund

Re: Science Fiction Double feature

Silent Running would be a good double feature with Wall-E. Cute robot overdose!

Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:36 am

Tuco

Re: Science Fiction Double feature

I'd throw in with 'Forbidden Planet' as well.

I saw it for the first time on one of those Sci Fi Saturday afternoons when I was ten or eleven, and I liked it.

Going back and seeing it again many years later, it was one of the few 50's Sci Fi flicks that held up ('The Day the Earth Stood Still' is another, although 'Forbidden Planet' is better).

I'd recommend it highly.

Mon Mar 02, 2009 3:46 pm

Robert Holloway

Re: Science Fiction Double feature

Woo hoo, looks like we are in for lots of fun evenings

I'd argue that Silent Running is a little too slow for a 10 year old Nobody has mentioned Dark Star in the ticklish tomato?

Thanks for the advice on Incredible Shrinking ManI think it's in a box in the attic on a laserdisc!

More to comeRob

Mon Mar 02, 2009 4:57 pm

HomerJ

Re: Science Fiction Double feature

Another vote for Creature from the Black Lagoon. My son (age 8) really enjoyed it. He also liked:

20 Million Miles to Earth. Great Harryhausen monster fun.

The Thing From Another World. He saw it was produced by Howard Hawks, and had already seen Hatari about ten times, so this was an easy sell. He loved it. Suspenseful, but not too scary. I'm holding off on Carpenter's remake for at least 5 years.

Hope this helps.

Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:22 pm

Unke

Re: Science Fiction Double feature

Robert Holloway wrote:

Nobody has mentioned Dark Star in the ticklish tomato?

In my experience, Dark Star is best enjoyed in an inebriated state so you should wait until your kids are of legal age.

Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:23 pm

ogto

Re: Science Fiction Double feature

If you ever watch Forbidden Planet with the young ones, post about it please. Curios if they'll like it.

It's pure campy classic sci-fi. It's up there with war of the worlds (only much better). Oh, The Island Earth!

Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:31 pm

Robert Holloway

Re: Science Fiction Double feature

This is all awesome inputI'm going to try and organize this lot and produce the Reelviews guide to getting your kids into great science fiction movies Rob

Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:54 pm

Damaj

Re: Science Fiction Double feature

This weekend I watched Tron and The Black Hole, Disney live-action, science fiction fare. I loved these two movies as a kid, and for me they hold up pretty well. I watch Tron about once a year, but I hadn't seen The Black Hole since the days of Beta. This time, I had to get past the hokiness of VINCENT, but it was extremely watchable and some (SOME) of the effects are still brilliant. What is up with that ending? Great imagery but a little baffling.

Tue Mar 03, 2009 12:11 pm

Awf Hand

Re: Science Fiction Double feature

Oh yeah, the Black Hole. I'd forgotten about that one. Thanks Damaj!!

-There's also "The Last Starfighter".

I would think this to be a movie which could be 'updated' fairly easily.

Tue Mar 03, 2009 12:58 pm

Alex

Re: Science Fiction Double feature

I watched many of these films with my father when I was 10 or younger (I'm 41 now).

I particularly remember Them!, Forbidden Planet (I was terrified by the monster from the id), and War of the Worlds.

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